Oakland school board OK's full-day kindergarten

Oakland – The Board of Education last week unanimously approved incorporating a full-day kindergarten program in the district beginning in September.

The change will increase kindergartners’ time in school from two and a half hours a day to six hours and 20 minutes a day.

"This has been something parents in the community have been wanting and supporting for a while," interim Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Feifer said. "They’ve been unable to do it basically because of a lack of space."

Declining enrollment has freed up a classroom in each of the district’s three elementary schools, which will allow for two full-day kindergarten classes per school, according to Feifer. Currently, there are two half-day classes per school, taught by one teacher.

Feifer said he conducted a projection based on recent trends in kindergarten enrollment, as well as one based on the number of births five years ago.

The current projection for students enrolled in kindergarten in September is 106. However, Feifer said, if more enroll, the district has the "wiggle room" for the "foreseeable future" to sustain a full-day program.

School board president John Scerbo said he and other trustees are "thrilled" that the goal of a full-day program will finally been realized.

"We’ve always looked at it and tried to find a way to do it," he said. "It’s going to be focusing on the core curriculum, and children are going to get the classroom experience they need."

Scerbo said he does not foresee any additional costs to the district related to implementing the program.

While the program will require an additional kindergarten teacher in each school, the total number of teachers in each school will remain the same, according to Feifer, who said that the additional kindergarten teacher could be an internal employee who previously taught another grade.

Vivian King, whose son will be starting kindergarten in September, said she "couldn’t be happier" with the school board’s decision.

King said many parents sent their children to full-day pre-K programs and eventually full-day kindergarten enrichment programs to increase their educational time and because they work during the day. She said the current program does not meet those needs.

"I don’t think that set our children up with what they needed to succeed in first grade," King said. "It was like a step backwards."

Scerbo added that full-day programs can introduce families to the school district earlier and lead them to become more involved.

"It’s important to bring families in and have them be part of the community," he said.